Boys Club

Amelia Keith

Nicola sat impatiently waiting for Amelia to be released.

"Congratulations Amelia you're being released," a guard named Sharon told the young girl as she was playing a card game with a couple other girls.

Amelia frowned at her, "great another fabulous foster home. Here I come, don't worry girls I'm sure I'll be back soon," she said with a smirk.

"Amelia, you really could try to get along in the foster home better. This is no place for a young girl to grow up in. This place will ruin you," Sharon tried to reason with the girl.

"Give them a real chance. You never know what good might come from it." Sharon tried to encourage her.

"The only thing a foster parent cares about is their monthly check. They don't give a damn about me or any other kid that comes through their house," the 12 year old stated matter of factly.

"It is true there are some crappy foster parents out there, but there are also some really good ones. If you alienate yourself before getting to know them you could miss out on a great opportunity. I'm just asking for you to give it a real shot. You can do that can't you?"

Amelia shrugged her shoulders as she finished putting on her clothes. The clothes they gave her didn't really fit her.

Apparently when her social worker went to get her belongings they said all her clothes disappeared. They blamed the two foster children that had been removed from their home.

They just gave a small box that had some things Amelia had carried from place to place that she was allowed to bring from her parents home after they died. One was a jewelry box of her mother's that she kept locked up because her mother and father's wedding rings had been given to her.

The box had a secret compartment that only she knew about because her mother had shown her one time that she kept a real pearl bracelet her father had given her in it. Amelia knew the jewelry would have been stolen a long time ago so she never kept anything else in it so everyone thought she was carrying an empty battered looking jewelry box.

She also had her elephant she had named Elly when she was 3 her dad won it at a carnival. It was pink and purple. She had a gray and white knitted blanket that was super soft.

Her mother made it while she was pregnant with her and since she didn't know what she was having she thought the soft gray and white would go with any theme nursery.

Amelia loved to cuddle that blanket at night. Sharon took Amelia through several locked doors before reaching the lobby where Nicola was waiting.

Nicola smiled warmly at her. "I'm so happy to see you in regular clothes" she beamed.

Amelia rolled her eyes "They stole all my clothes not that I had much but still now I have nothing. This shit doesn't even fit" Amelia expressed her anger at the situation.

"I'm sorry sweetie I promise where you're going you will get new clothes. And I assure you you'll have more than enough. You'll see," she tried reassuring the frustrated girl.

As they headed to Nicola's car Amelia asked her. "Where am I going this time? How many kids do they have? How many are their own?"

As they buckled up Nicola prepared to answer the girls questions honestly. "Well interesting enough my brother and brother-in-law have always kept their license to have foster kids open but they actually have never fostered a kid before."

"Wait, you're sending me to live with two guys that don't have any experience with kids? That's ridiculous." Amelia was shocked by this news.

She didn't have a problem with it being two guys, that wasn't an issue for her.